Ranged tanking, based around the mechanic of kiting bosses around, would never work. Ranged tanks would take a fraction of the damage of a melee tank, and as a result raids would bring less healers to compensate. It would just be too overpowered and every raid group would opt to bring a ranged tank over a melee tank.

actually you're missing the part where melee dps would get benched in favor of ranged to require less coordination while kiting the boss around at the tank's leisure. Or even the fact that ranged tanking bosses would also translate to utterly stupid pvp battles against most players (imagine what would require keeping a boss at range in current wow... for 5+ minutes! like monk roll, hunter disengage, mage blink, warrior intervene and heroic leap all together wihtout shared cooldowns for starters just to help keep at bay?) IMBA so hard right there...

But overall this example of the idea is still focusing too much on simply adding the idea into the current model of the game without even bothering to modify anything. Anything that would be implemented would need to be changed while also changing what it's being added to ever so slightly. Like how bosses attack their target and what abilities they use, and how a 'tank' is able to survive an encounter. The short answer to the topic will be a 'no' unless a very great amount of care is taken when going over every little detail....

I wonder, what if they tank was able to stay at range, take action from a ranged perspective, but have his 'body' at melee range with a boss. Think a 'physical'/'spiritual decoy system, a more engaging version of the monk's 'transcendence' ability. Just a suggestion for the idea, it would still lead to the ultimate decision of 'getting in close to take control'.

Still... a lot of stuff that wouldn't make sense in the idea of tanking, let alone the WoW environment.

Originally Posted by Mormolyce

Pet tank maybe?

Bit hard to imagine otherwise in a WoW context since almost all bosses melee.

That's another idea, probably would have to make the 'player and pet' linked(sorta like Soul Link) to balance things out, but you'd still be able to make an 'impact' on one side of the room while tanking on the other... Again though, this would leave the cap for 'control', pets always feel a bit clunky compared to players, and I imagine being distracted by things meant to keep ranged busy would make it hard for some people to watch things like quicker reaction taunt mechanics as closely. Whether it is 'a challenge' or outright annoying to manage would be the problem...

range tanks would be completely worthless against bosses that set up threat tables based on who is in melee range and attacking. Ranged tank is just pointless to exist. Kiting doesn't require a "tank spec".

range tanks would be completely worthless against bosses that set up threat tables based on who is in melee range and attacking. Ranged tank is just pointless to exist. Kiting doesn't require a "tank spec".

I dont think WoW is incapable of working around that with something like a totem, pet drop close to boss which would be treated the same as a melee range target.

Originally Posted by Medium9

I'd prefer being shot by a terrorist than living in a country where they serve bread baked with a little cheese and a bottle of ketchup to complete your "pizza margeritha".

I would hate this. There's nothing more annoying than mobs/bosses running around after a tank when I'm trying to beat the crap out of it.
Hate those fights already, would hate a tank that would make ANY fight like that and would make it even harder for melee opposite to ranged.

I'd rather see a "caster" tank that didn't necessarily stay at range, but used casted abilities and spells. So like a Battle Mage that used spells, but otherwise could mitigate damage. In order for a ranged tank to work, you would need ranged mobs, which would be a big change.

In a game like SWTOR, half of the classes are ranged, and probably the same for mobs. Lots of bosses just sit there and shoot you with a blaster, so staying at ranged wouldn't be a game breaker.

But as other posters have said, it's an aggro problem too. Would be easier for melee to pull off the tank when the tank is farther away.

I thought I had a pretty cool idea for ranged tanking in my Titanborn concept. Basically the placement of a "target dummy" is part of the tanking mechanic, while the player is encouraged to develop distance for ranged abilities:

Ranged Tank: Replicant
The tank spec operates by removing mass from the target, and then using that mass to create a Replicant of themselves fixed at the player's current location. The Replicant then performs all agro generation and defensive abilities that the player activates. It is immune to AoE effects, but not single target damage. Meanwhile, the player is encouraged to move and perform ranged DPS abilities, while generating more mass to construct another replicant should the target need to be moved to a new location. Distance gained from the Replicant increases damage and shielding abilites.

Mastery: Kinetic Transfer
Increases the damage reduction of the Replicant's Kinetic Shield by X%, increases your chance to block melee attacks by X%. Also adds X% to your Kinetic Beam damage, modified further as your distance from the Replicant increases.

Kinetic Shield
The Replicant maintains a matrix shield of energy which decreases damage taken by 25%. Significantly increases threat generation. Also causes 45% of the damage your Replicant absorbs to be converted to Kinetic Beam which is fired from the ranged player. This damage causes no threat.

Fusion Punch
An attack infused with energy from the Replicant that inflicts X Arcane damage and an additional X Arcane damage per second. Increases movement speed of the ranged player with each stack.

Memory Transfer
The ranged player explodes in a torrent of AoE damage, and player control reverts to the Replicant. Generates a large amount of threat which is transferred to the relocated player after detonation.

The biggest problem with any ranged tank suggestion is that it is too different from the current tanks. You can say that it has certain advantages and certain disadvantages, but they're never going to be the same. For a start AoE under the bosses feet and kiting is much easier for a ranged tank.

If there was a ranged tank, they would either be mandatory or unused. There are only 2 tank spots in a raid; the role cannot cope with diversity.

If there was a ranged tank, they would either be mandatory or unused. There are only 2 tank spots in a raid; the role cannot cope with diversity.

Allowing a 'ranged tank' to open up CC, or have CC that bypasses boss resistances, or puts up any sort of pet/barrier that allows ranged tanking... wouldn't that just mean you'd have him fill both roles ? ie... instead of having two tanks for a twins fight, you just have the tank 'control' one at range, and then facetank the other.

Not really at least in my opinion. I mean I still play SWTOR from time to time, and I tank with my bounty hunter and nine times out of ten the boss will be in your face. I mean it's worked in the past with some bosses in WoW to where you had a mage or warlock gain high threat on a ranged caster boss. As for Blizzard doing it? Probably not since the other tanks are melee and it would probably be a pain on a design point of view to adjust boss fights to one class